[Devi, 4(2): February, 2015] ISSN: 2277-9655 Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 3.449 (ISRA), Impact Factor: 2.114

IJESRT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES & RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NETWARE PROTOCOLS Ms.A.Nirmala Devi*, Ms.S.Latha, Ms.S.Gowri * Asst.Professor, Department of Computer Science, KSR College of Arts and Science,Tiruchengode Asst.Professor, Department of Computer Science, KSR College of Arts and Science,Tiruchengode Asst.Professor, Department of Computer Science, KSR College of Arts and Science,Tiruchengode

ABSTRACT In this paper an elaborate comparison has been provided between the Novell Netware Protocols such as IPX, NLSP, SPX and NCP. These Protocols are used to transfer data to appropriate destination. Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is a protocol which is used by the Novell NetWare operating systems to send and receive packets through network. NLSP was designed to replace IPX RIP (Routing Information Protocol) and SAP (Service Advertisement Protocol). The Novell NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) is used to manage Novell NetWare server resources. The Sequenced Packet Exchange (SPX) protocol provides packet delivery in Novell NetWare’s network. Here we provided the comparison between various features such as protocol’s structure, working principle and address representation.

KEYWORDS: Protocol, Packet, Routing, Internetwork, Address.

INTRODUCTION received, Otherwise it request retransmission of In IPX, Process running on one host to communicate packets [3]. with other host, no connection between the hosts is established. Netware workstation needs to send NCP is mainly used to transfer information between information to another workstation. If both Netware client and server. Sending workstation create workstations share the common network number, the NCP request and use IPX to send information through sending workstation send packets directly to receiver’s network. workstation physical address. If it is two workstations having different network number, the sending INTERNETWORK PACKET EXCHANGE workstation must find out the router on its own PROTOCOL segment and then forward a packet to that segment Protocol Structure which one is available in destination [1].

In IPX have different type of packets. Uncompressed packet, Compressed packet, Slot initialization packet, Reject packet, Acknowledgment packet [6].

NLSP is mainly used to exchange information through routers. Sending workstation send some information to router. The NLSP based router having a complete map of the network and send it to destination. It periodically checks the link for connectivity [2].

SPX works in a top of the IPX. It is mainly used to provide communication between client / server programs. IPX receive packets from the network and transfer it to SPX and SPX send acknowledgement to IPX. After that SPX discard the duplicate packets from the network. SPX determine all the packets have been TABLE I IPX PROTOCOL STRUCTURE http: // www.ijesrt.com © International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology [517]

[Devi, 4(2): February, 2015] ISSN: 2277-9655 Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 3.449 (ISRA), Impact Factor: 2.114

o 17 - It Specifies NetWare Core  Checksum - It specifies, whether the Protocol (NCP) checksum is used or not. By default the bit  Destination network, Destination node, and field is set as 1s complement. Destination socket— it consists of  Packet length - It gives the length of the destination information. datagram.  Transport control - It says, which packet has Source network, Source node, and Source socket— it passed through the router and check whether gives source information [1].

the value reaches 16, the packet is discarded. IPX addressing  Packet type - It indicates which upper-layer IPX network address identifies IPX server on a IPX protocol should receive the packet’s network uniquely. It consists of 12 byte hexa decimal information. It has two common values: number. It include the following components, o 5 - It Specifies Sequenced Packet 4 byte network number is mainly used for server Exchange(SPX) 6 byte node number is also used for server 2 byte socket number is for server process .

NETWARE LINK SERVICES PROTOCOL Protocol Structure [2]

1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 bits

Protocol Length Minor Packet Major Cct Rsvd Rsvd Reserved Rsvd State ID Ind Version Type Version Type

Holding Source ID Packet Length Time

Local Packet wan Variable length fields Length circuit ID

TABLE II NLSP PROTOCOL STRUCTURE

 Protocol ID – It recognize the NLSP routing  Reserved - Contains no decimal values and is layer. Ignored on receipt.  Length indicator - It is mainly used to find out  State (2 bits)—Sends the router’s state the integrated number of bytes in the header.  with the link  Minor version - It consist of one possible o 0 for Up decimal o 1 for Initializing Value and is ignored on receipt. o 2 for Down  Reserved – Contains no decimal values and  Circuit type (Cct type)—It contain 2 bits. is o 0 specifies reserved value and Ignored on receipt. ignore the entire packet.  Packet type (5 bits) - Contains 17 possible o 1 Specifies Level 1 routing. Decimal values. o 2 specify Level 2 routing.  Major version - Contains one possible o 3 Specifies the both Level 1 and 2. decimal value. http: // www.ijesrt.com © International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology [518]

[Devi, 4(2): February, 2015] ISSN: 2277-9655 Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 3.449 (ISRA), Impact Factor: 2.114

 Source ID It gives system identifier if the 0 for resetting the flag sending router. Bit 4 for Eom: End of message.  Holding time - It indicates timer in seconds for sending router. Bit 5 for Att: Attention bit, not used  Packet length - It is used to find out the length by SPX. of the packet in terms of bytes. Bit 6 for Ack: Acknowledge  Local WAN circuit ID — It is a unique required. identifier created by router.  Variable Length Field – Optional fields. Bit 7 for Sys: Transport control.

FEATURES  Data stream type – It stipulates the data within the packet:  NLSP use a reliable delivery protocol, so  Source connection ID - A 16-bit number delivery is guaranteed. allotted for SPX to identify the connection.  NLSP having improved routing decisions  Destination connection ID - The reference number used to identify the target end of the because NLSP-based routers store a transport connection. complete map of the network, not just next-  Sequence number - A 16-bit number, hop information. managed by SPX, which indicates the  NLSP is efficient because it support IPX number of packets transmitted. header compression to reduce the size of the  Acknowledge number - A 16-bit number, packets. used to specify the next expected packet.  It periodically checks links for connectivity  Allocation number - A 16-bit number, indicating the number of packets sent but not and for the data integrity of routing yet acknowledged [3]. information.  NLSP is scalable because NLSP can support NETWARE CORE PROTOCOL up to 127 hops (RIP supports only 15 hops) Protocol Structure and permits hierarchical addressing of network nodes, which allows networks to 8 16 bit contain thousands of LANs and servers. Request Type Sequence number Connection number low  NLSP-based routers are backward Connection number Task number compatible with RIP based routers.[5] high Request code SEQUENCED PACKET EXCHANGE TABLE IV NCP STRUCTURE Protocol Structure  Request type - Identifies the packet type: 8 16 bit 1111H. Allocate slot request Connection Control Flag Data stream type 2222H File server request. Source Connection ID 3333H File server reply. Destination Connection ID 5555H Deallocate slot request. Sequence Number 7777H Burst mode packet (BMP). Acknowledge Number 9999H Positive acknowledge. Allocation Number H signifies hexadecimal notation. Data (0 – 534 bytes)  Sequence number - Number used by the TABLE III SPX PROTOCOL STRUCTURE workstation and file server to identify packets which are sent and received.  Connection control flag – It have four flags  Connection number low - Low connection ID to control the bi-directional flow of data in an number assigned to the workstation. SPX connection.  Task number - Identifies the operating 1 for setting the flag system e.g., DOS, task. http: // www.ijesrt.com © International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology [519]

[Devi, 4(2): February, 2015] ISSN: 2277-9655 Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 3.449 (ISRA), Impact Factor: 2.114

 Connection number high - High Connection Services ID number assigned to the workstation. Used  File access only on the  File locking 1000-user version of NetWare, on all other  Security versions  Tracking of resource allocation will be set to 0.  Event notification  Request code - Identifies the specific request  Synchronization with other servers function code [4].  Connection and communication  Print services and queue and network management.

COMPARISON IPX NLSP SPX NCP Connection Link state Transport layer Client / Server less datagram routing protocol LAN protocol protocol protocol Routing OSI Based on Based on Information Intermediate Xerox Netware File Protocol [RIP] System-to- Sequenced Sharing or NetWare Intermediate Packet Protocol Link-State System (IS-IS) Protocol Protocol protocol [NLSP]. 16 bits 9 bytes 16 bits 16 bits representations representations representations representations are followed. are followed. are followed. are followed. Two common 17 possible 16 possible 6 Possible values for values are values are used values are packet type used used. By means of By means of Provide Using IPX to network router send communication send number send information to between client/ information. information to workstation. server others. programs. packets can packets can packets can packets can be sent to a be sent to a only be sent to be sent to a more than one more than one a single session more than one workstations workstations partner. workstations

CONCLUSION REFERENCES This paper provides a comparison of Novell Netware 1. http://www.novell.com/documentation/lg/n protocols like IPX, NLSP, SPX and NCP. w65/index.html?page=/documentation/lg/n Internetwork Packet Exchange Protocol (IPX) is a w65/ipx_enu/data/hc1w6pvi.Html basic protocol to send packets to other workstation in 2. http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/ci efficient manner. NLSP have a compression to reduce sintwk/ito_do /nlsp.htm. the size of the packet.SPX operates on top of IPX and 3. http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/ci it performs equivalent functions to TCP. NCP is the sintwk/ito_doc/netwarep.htm principal protocol for transmitting information 4. http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/ci between a NetWare server and its clients. IPX, NLSP, sintwk/ito_doc/net -warep.ht m SPX and NCP provide acknowledgement to its 5. http://support.novell.com/techcenter/articles workstation. /ana19940505.html 6. http://www.novell.com/documentation/nw6 p/pdfdoc/ipx_enu/ipx_enu.pdf

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